Florida Master Gardener Mentor Program: A Case Study

Abstract
The Master Gardener Mentor Program study was designed to determine if volunteer mentors would help reduce trainee drop out during basic training, and to determine what component(s) of the program were most important to trainees. Data were gathered from the Master Gardener Program without a mentor program (1995, 1996, and 1997) and with a mentor program (1998). The drop out rates without the program were 26%, 17%,and 27%, respectively, while with the program it was only 2%. This low percentage could have been influenced by the smaller class (1998) however differences in the resulting data were quite large. Survey results focus on friendship gained from the program as the most important factor.

University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service, like so many other institutions, is relying more then ever on Master Gardener volunteers. Many of the Master Gardener programs in the state have become quite large with an average of 57 volunteers per county. During 1998, the Pinellas County Master Gardener Program had 132 volunteers.

In previous years, drop-out rates during training were high. This study was designed to determine if a mentor program would reduce trainee drop-out during the basic training session and to determine what component(s) of the program were most important to trainees.

The Florida Master Gardener Mentor Program was designed according to the basic format of that outlined by Butler (1997) of Oregon State University. Additional information was referenced from other mentor programs at Oregon State (Rogers, 1997). The formal mentor program at the University of Florida was begun in January 1998, one month prior to the first day of the Master Gardener basic training. This allowed time for mentor orientation training as well as time for mentors to contact trainees prior to the first class. Each mentor was allowed to determine how many trainees they were comfortable advising. Two to four trainees were assigned randomly to each mentor. Mentors remained in contact throughout the entire training period and into post-training volunteer activities.

Program Outline

The Florida Master Gardener Mentor is an active veteran Master Gardener with one or more years of service (100+ hours). A mentor is a volunteer who assists new Master Gardeners to obtain answers to technical questions and provides suggestions, recommendations, and operational advice. Mentors maintain monthly contacts (a minimum) with Master Gardener trainees to advise and assist them throughout basic training. Each mentor is provided with a "contact sheet" on which they record contacts with trainees. Mentors are not required to settle conflicts or answer legal questions. When these situations arise they are to be turned over to the supervising Extension agent.

To be a mentor, one must agree to attend a basic training class, the first day of Master Gardener training, two volunteer work days, and the final exam/graduation luncheon. Once the formal training is complete, mentors act as informal advisors to all new Master Gardeners. This responsibility does not require keeping a record of contact, but is a means for Master Gardeners to get needed assistance. Mentors are distinguished from other Master Gardeners by gold inscribed mentor name tags.

The responsibilities of the mentor are divided among three basic time periods: prior to the training, during the training, and after completing training. While each phase requires mentors to perform different duties, the overall program objective remains the same. The key role of the mentor is to be the first personal contact that the new volunteer has with the University of Florida Cooperative Extension Service Master Gardener Program.

Prior to the beginning of training, mentors establish contact with trainees to give them an idea of what is to be expected of them. The "initial contact" outline lists topics that need to be covered in the first phone call. The categories of information that these topics include are mentor introduction, insight into the Master Gardener program, logistics of the basic training, and expectations of trainees after the basic training. Mentors are encouraged to add any information that they feel would be helpful to the trainees.

To establish on-going dialogue, mentors provide trainee with their names, home telephone numbers, and times that trainees can call. During the 13-weeks of class, mentors remain in contact with trainees by phone and in person before, during, and after class. Once training is complete, mentors remain in contact on an informal basis.

To maintain on-going communication with the supervising Extension agent, Master Gardener Mentors meet as a formal group four times throughout the basic training. Meetings take place at the time of: (a) the mentor orientation training, (b) the first and second volunteer training days, and (c) the final exam/graduation luncheon.

Results

Drop-out rates for the three annual Master Gardener basic training programs prior to the Mentor program were 26%, 17%, and 27% for the years 1995, 1996, and 1997, respectively. While the 1998 class in Pinellas County was one-third smaller then the previous years, the trainee drop-out rate for basic training program was 2%

Surveys were conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of the mentor program from the perspective of the mentors as well as the trainees. When trainees were asked to rank their mentors on a scale of 1 to 6 (1 = poor, 6 = excellent), 53% of the class rated their mentor as excellent (6) while 90% rated their mentors as good to excellent (4-6). However, when trainees were asked to rate (using the same scale) how much their mentor influenced them to remain active in the training program, 25% responded "very much a factor" (6) and 25% responded "not at all" (1) a factor. The remaining 50% were equally spread between the extremes.

When asked the same question using the same scale, 73% of the mentors responded that they thought the Mentor Program was a factor (5-6) in trainee retention. When trainees were asked to rate their mentor's performance in areas such as accessibility, horticultural and Cooperative Extension Service knowledge, friendliness, leadership, and willingness to listen, the category with the most responses of excellent (6) was friendliness (6). When both groups were asked if the program should continue in its present form, 100% of the mentors and 98% of the trainees responded positively.

Summary

During this field study, trainee drop-out rate was twelve times less than that for the mean of the previous three years. This may be attributed in part to a smaller class size in 1998, however, the differences in the resulting data are quite large. Overall, participants in the program responded positively to the Master Gardener Mentor Program. Trainees viewed mentors as important to the program, but did not perceive them as the single important factor in trainee retention. This may be a result of the Mentor Program becoming so integrated in the Master Gardener training program that it was difficult for respondents to separate its effects.

This may be exemplified in the response to the question regarding mentor performance. While only 25% of the trainees responded that the Mentor Program was key in their remaining active, 80% rated their mentors as friendly. This being the case, it would seem that while the assistance of the mentors was useful to the trainees, a friendly person with which a feeling of comradery could be developed was more important. Indeed, the important role that a friendly relationship plays in the mentor/trainee association has been found to facilitate the transformation from trainee to peer (Mincemoyer & Thomson,1998).

This could be an area of the Master Gardener Program that Extension professionals may need to step aside and allow mentor volunteers to develop. Relationships such as these often are the difficult to measure intangibles that only mentors can bring to programs such as the Florida Master Gardener Program. Future studies with this pilot group will include long term retention rate of trainees and mentors, as well as overall progress of the mentor program.

Rogers, B. (1997) Developing a successful mentoring program for volunteer training. Journal of Extension, 35,(5). Available on-line at http://www.joe.org

Abstract

The Master Gardener Mentor Program study was designed to determine if volunteer mentors would help reduce trainee drop out during basic training, and to determine what component(s) of the program were most important to trainees. Data were gathered from the Master Gardener Program without a mentor program (1995, 1996, and 1997) and with a mentor program (1998). The drop out rates without the program were 26%, 17%,and 27%, respectively, while with the program it was only 2%. This low percentage could have been influenced by the smaller class (1998) however differences in the resulting data were quite large. Survey results focus on friendship gained from the program as the most important factor.